


Steely Ruth

by Ralith



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: World War I
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 07:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17935643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ralith/pseuds/Ralith
Summary: The battle-hardened poilus already had enough to fear on the battlefield when they find the newest tank in their ranks isn't who or what they thought.





	Steely Ruth

Steely Ruth was the paradigm of perfection. A rhomboidal metal mammoth, beautiful and menacing.

Where the other tanks crawled and stalled in thick mud, their caterpillar treads only inching along, she strode forward like a hound on a mission. She laughed at the scarred earth that had been reduced to shelled craters and mud bogs. Getting stuck only once or twice before giving a mighty roar and pulling forward, she inspired the young poilus to follow her over the parapets, roaring too as they went over. They revered her tank crew for looking into Hell and charging its gates.

But her beauty didn’t end at her bravery. She was a new model lent to the French from the British. A Mark 1 body with sharp edges and proudly worn scars. Not to mention the impressive front-facing dual turrets. One shot to clear the way, another for the enemy’s front door.

They thought she was a gift from above. Little did they know.

Barbed wire was a stubborn cretin. You could blast it away, but the ensnaring metal would only become more tangled. A few engagements into the war and Steely Ruth learned this first hand. What should have been crushed into the mud caught and held. As she gained ground, several hundred feet of wire followed.

What cut into flesh on a human was a minor irritant to Steely Ruth. But it was an irritant that needed to be scratched.

Steely Ruth slowed to a stop and the poilus watched in agony. This could not be her undoing.

Then she crept forward and the men breathed a sigh of relief only to gasp in shock.

She rose towards the sky, treads reconfiguring to what became calves and shoulders. Arms folded out from where the cannons were held and snapped into place on forearms. And finally, a head rose out, eyes snapping open and casting an irate gaze at the barbed wire entangling newly formed limbs.

Was this a monster of man or Hell?

The creature huffed, steam escaping from nostrils and vents as it grabbed a length of wire and ripped it apart like it was nothing more than wet paper. It pulled the rest away as if the barbs didn’t hurt it in the least.

When Steely Ruth had morphed, the gunfire came to an abrupt silence. Now as the creature swiveled its head to the enemy, the trenches lit up with screams, cries, prayers.

Then it charged with pounding steps and the battle was over.

When it returned from No Man’s Land, the men met it with raised guns, but no one dared pull the trigger. They watched apprehensively as the creature sat at the edge of the trench, legs dangling into the too small space already crowded with men. Then it spoke and it gave a name.

Steely Ruth was very much alive, but from that battle forward, they cheered for Ironhide.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the historical painting featured in The Last Knight of Ironhide marching with WW1 soldiers.
> 
> Reposted from my Tumblr with a new title.


End file.
